Employment Discrimination_Title I of The Americans with Disabilities Act

Employment Discrimination_Title I of The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against applicants or employees based on disability. The ADA also prohibits retaliation against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on disability or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under the ADA. The Rehabilitation Act provides federal employees with the same protections.

Fiscal Year 2014: In FY 2014, the EEOC field legal units filed 133 merits lawsuits including 105 individual suits, 11 non-systemic class suits, and 17 systemic suits. Of these new filings, 76 contained Title VII claims, 49 contained Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, 12 contained Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) claims, 2 contained Equal Pay Act (EPA) claims, and 2 contained Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) claims. Also filed 34 subpoena enforcement and other actions. At the end of FY 2014, the EEOC had 228 cases on its active district court docket, of which 31 (14 %) were non-systemic class cases and 57 (25 %) involved challenges to systemic discrimination. Fiscal Year 2015: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2016: No Current Data Available

Authorization

Americans with Disabilities Act, Title I & V, as amended Public Law 101-336, Public Law 110-325 42, U.S.C. 12101-12117; 12201-12213; Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 791-794a.

Who is eligible to apply/benefit from this assistance?

Applicant Eligibility

Any aggrieved individual, or any individual, or any organization, or agency filing on behalf of an aggrieved individual, who has reason to believe that an unlawful employment practice within the meaning of Title I of the ADA has been committed by an employer with 15 or more employees, including state or local governments, an employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs. Any aggrieved individual who believes he or she has been retaliated against for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on disability or who files an ADA charge, testifies, or participates in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under the ADA. Federal employees are protected from disability discrimination under section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Beneficiary Eligibility

Applicants, for employment, current employees, and former employees of the named respondent(s) in a charge who have been subjected to unlawful employment practices based on disability by the named respondent (s), and/or who have been subjected to retaliation for filing a charge of discrimination, for opposing disability discrimination or for participating in an ADA or Rehabilitation Act investigation, proceeding, or litigation.

Credentials/Documentation

A claim of unlawful employment practice(s) may be made in person, by mail or by fax. An allegation must be in writing, signed, and/or notarized when necessary to meet State or local requirements. Charge forms (EEOC Form 5, Charge of Discrimination) are available to all persons from all field offices of the Commission. Individuals may also consult EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/howtofile.cfm for detailed information about filing a charge. Complaints against the Federal government should be filed at the relevant agency’s EEO office. Each agency is required to post information about how to contact the agency’s EEO office.

Federal government applicants or employees should consult EEOC’s website at http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/fed_employees/complaint_overview.cfm for details about filing an employment discrimination complaint against a federal agency. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A87. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles.

What is the process for applying and being award this assistance?

Pre-Application Procedure

Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. A charge may be filed by any aggrieved individual, any individual on behalf of an aggrieved individual, or by any organization, i.e., labor union, association, legal representative, etc., either as an entity or on behalf of an aggrieved individual. Charges may be filed in person, by mail or by fax at the nearest field office of the EEOC.

Complaints against the federal government should be filed at the relevant agency’s EEO office. Each agency is required to post information about how to contact the agency’s EEO office.

Award Procedure

A charge is sufficient when the Commission receives from the person making the charge a written signed statement that includes an allegation of discrimination, the name(s) of the parties involved, and a request that the EEOC act to protect the applicant or employee’s rights or otherwise settle a dispute between the applicant or employee and the employer. The charge must also be verified; in some circumstances verification can relate back to the date that the charge was filed.

Deadlines

Not Applicable.

Approval/Disapproval Decision Time

The ADA requires that charges be filed within 180 days of the date of the alleged violation, within 300 days if the charge is also covered by a state or local anti-discrimination law, or within 30 days after the receipt of notice of termination of state or local proceedings, whichever is earlier. If the evidence does not establish that discrimination occurred, charging parties will be given written notice of their right to sue. Persons can also ask for a notice of right to sue before EEOC finishes its investigation. A charging party may file a lawsuit within 90 days after receiving a notice of a right to sue from EEOC, as stated above. Under the ADA, a charging party also can request a notice of right to sue from EEOC 180 days after the charge was first filed with the Commission, and may then bring suit within 90 days after receiving this notice. When a right to sue letter is issued at the request of the charging party, EEOC usually stops its investigation.

Federal employees must generally contact the agency’s EEO Counselor within 45 days from the date the discrimination occurred.

Appeals

None.

Renewals

Not Applicable.

How are proposals selected?

Not Applicable.

How may assistance be used?

Individuals are protected from discrimination on the basis of disability by employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor organizations. Federal employees and applicants are covered under section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which applies the same standards as the ADA. The EEOC Assessment System, available at https://egov.eeoc.gov/eas/, enables individuals to determine whether EEOC is the appropriate agency to contact regarding their specific claims of discrimination, harassment or retaliation. Charges of discriminatory employment practices can be filed by or on behalf of an individual or group of individuals claiming to be aggrieved. Mediation may be offered to the parties involved. If mediation is not used or is not successful, further investigation may ensue. If after its investigation, the Commission does not find reasonable cause, the charging party is issued a right to sue letter. If the Commission determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has occured, it will attempt to resolve the charge informally through conciliation. If conciliation proves to be unsuccessful and the employer is not a state or local government, the Commission may bring a civil action against respondent(s) named in the charge or issue a right to sue letter to the party who filed the charge, giving him or her the right to file a civil action in federal court. If conciliation fails on a charge against a state or local government, EEOC refers the case to the Department of Justice for consideration of litigation or issuance of a right to sue letter.

A federal employment applicant or employee who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act must file a complaint with that agency and follow the procedures set forth at 29 C.F.R. part 1614.

What are the requirements after being awarded this opportunity?

Reporting

Not Applicable.

Auditing

Not Applicable.

Records

Not applicable.

Other Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

Statutory formulas are not applicable to this program.
Matching requirements are not applicable to this program.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

Not applicable. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Not applicable.

Who do I contact about this opportunity?

Regional or Local Office

See Regional Agency Offices. See map of field offices available at http://www/eeoc/field/index.cfm. EEOC Offices are also listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.

Publications are available on the EEOC web site (www.eeoc.gov). To request documents in alternative formats (Braille, large print, etc), contact EEOC at (202) 663-4191. Regulations include: 29 CFR 1601, Procedural Regulations and Guidelines; 29 CFR 1602, Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements under Title VII and the ADA; 29 CFR 1630, Substantive Regulations; 29 CFR 1640, Coordination Regulations with the Department of Justice; 29 CFR 1641, Coordination Regulations with the Department of Labor. Enforcement guidances and policy documents include: Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities; Revised Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans With Disabilities Act; Enforcement Guidance: Application of the ADA To Contingent Workers Placed By Temporary Agencies And Other Staffing Firms; EEOC Policy Guidance on Executive Order 13164: Establishing Procedures to Facilitate the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation; Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); EEOC Policy Guidance on Executive Order 13145: To Prohibit Discrimination in Federal Employment Based on Genetic Information; EEOC Enforcement Guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and Psychiatric Disabilities; EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Workers’ Compensation and the ADA; ADA Enforcement Guidance: Pre-employment Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations; Interim Enforcement Guidance on the Application of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to Disability-based Distinctions in Employer Provided Health Insurance; Enforcement Guidance on Application of Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act to Conduct Overseas and to Foreign Employers Discriminating in the United States. Compliance Manual: Section 902: Definition of the Term “Disability”; Section 2: Threshold Issues; Section 3: Employee Benefits; Section 8: Retaliation. Technical assistance documents, reports and fact sheets include: Questions and Answers: Promoting Employment of Individuals with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce; Applying Performance and Conduct Standards To Employees With Disabilities; Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities in the Workplace and the ADA-A Guide for Employers; Reasonable Accommodations for Attorneys with Disabilities; The Family and Medical Leave Act, the ADA, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; The ADA: A Primer for Small Business; The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer; The ADA: Your Employment Rights as an Individual With a Disability; Job Applicants and the ADA; Small Employers and Reasonable Accommodation; Work At Home/Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation; Obtaining and Using Employee Medical Information as Part of Emergency Evacuation Procedures; How to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guide for Restaurants and Other Food Service Employers; Final Report on Best Practices For the Employment of People with Disabilities In State Government; Questions and Answers about Health Care Workers and the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers about Blindness and Vision Impairments in the Workplace and the ADA; Questions and Answers about the Association Provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers About Diabetes in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers About Epilepsy in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers About Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act; Questions and Answers About Cancer in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.